How to See the Distance Between Cars at Night?

[SanDallas]

At night, the distance between cars can be observed through the windshield and rearview mirror. The specific methods are as follows: Through the windshield: Observe the bumper of the car in front. When the upper edge of the bumper is visible, the distance between the two cars is about 1 meter. When the lower edge of the bumper is visible, the distance is about 2 meters. If the rear tire's lower edge of the car in front is visible, the distance is approximately 3 meters. Through the rearview mirror: When observing the car behind, if the image of the rear car occupies the entire rearview mirror, the distance is about 3 meters. If the image occupies two-thirds of the rearview mirror, the distance is about 5 meters. If it occupies one-third of the rearview mirror, the distance is approximately 12 meters. Driving at night with limited visibility may lead to unexpected incidents. If the following distance is too close, it may not allow enough time to react to sudden events. Therefore, it is recommended to increase the following distance appropriately to prevent collisions between cars.

[VonReagan]

There are tricks to judging distance when driving at night. I usually watch the brightness changes of the taillights ahead—when the red lights merge into a blur, it means I'm too close. For regular sedans, seeing two distinct taillights indicates about 30 meters, while merged lights signal danger. On highways, I use the three-second rule: pick a lamppost as a reference, count 'one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three' after the car ahead passes it, and if I haven't reached the post by then, it's safe. In rain, I deliberately increase the distance since braking distance doubles on wet roads. The newly installed anti-glare rearview mirror helps a lot—even high beams from behind don't dazzle.

[AaliyahMarie]

At night, use lights as your ruler for following distance. Driving a van, I pay extra attention: seeing the full set of taillights means about 20 meters, while just the rear fog light alone indicates 10 meters. With semi-trailers, I'm even more cautious—their higher taillight position can be misleading. A rainy-day rear-end collision taught me to watch road reflections: when taillights stretch in puddle reflections, it's time to brake. Now I always activate front/rear fog lights for visibility and adjust mirrors to monitor three lanes.

[LaEmma]

Share a practical tip: Maintain a distance of eight lane lines when driving at 80 mph at night. Observe the lower edge of the vehicle ahead; when the tire's contact with the road shadow disappears, it indicates a distance below 30 meters. The safest way to follow a car on the highway is to use cruise control plus distance mode, with the dashboard displaying green, yellow, and red distance indicators. Remember to lower your headlights slightly, as overly bright lights can make it harder to see the outline of the car ahead. On curves, focus on the changes in the shadow length of the leading car under the streetlights on the outer side.